Check In for Haiti – It’s Your Turn, Macworld

Last week, we asked you to help people affected by the earthquake in Haiti by checking in to a Whole Foods, Chipotle Grill, or Panera Bread retail location. We promised to donate $1 for each such Check In, and as a result, we saw Check Ins at these location rise 200% from their norm. Thanks so much for your help, guys!

Macworld: now it’s your turn! Check In to Macworld at the Moscone Center from now until midnight on February 13, and we will donate $1 to victims of the earthquake in Haiti on your behalf. The funds will go to the American Red Cross as well as Doctors Without Borders.

There is no charge to the Loopt user. You can share your Check Ins with friends by linking Loopt to your Facebook and Twitter profiles.

If you'd like more information about donating to the Red Cross' Haiti Relief and Development Fund, click here; to learn more about how you can help Doctors Without Borders, click here.

Check In for Haiti

 
Update: Check In to MacWorld as well to help Haiti!

For every one person that uses Loopt to Check In at a Whole Foods, Chipotle Grill, or Panera Bread retail location anywhere in the United States from February 2 – midnight Sunday, February 7, Loopt will donate one dollar to help people affected by the earthquake in Haiti. The funds will go to the American Red Cross as well as Doctors Without Borders.

“We all have a responsibility to do what we can to help those in need,” said Sam, co-founder & CEO of Loopt. “Whole Foods, Chipotle Grill, and Panera Bread are popular retailers visited by Loopt users, and we’re proud to provide our users with a quick and simple way to contribute to the relief efforts that are currently under way in Haiti.”

There is no charge to the Loopt user. You can share your Check Ins with friends by linking Loopt to your Facebook and Twitter profiles.

If you'd like more information about donating to the Red Cross' Haiti Relief and Development Fund, click here; to learn more about how you can help Doctors Without Borders, click here.

Get Tips With Your Loopt BlackBerry Update

The Loopt BlackBerry update is out, get it now!

Loopt is a great source for local content; you can peruse detailed information from Zagat, Citysearch, and other content partners. But this update goes one step further: the new Loopt for BlackBerry now has Tips – a way for you to show off your expertise on your favorite places with the greater Loopt community.

Adding a Tip is really easy, just go to the Discover tab and select the place that you want to leave a Tip for. In the middle of this place screen is a blue speech bubble icon. Select it and you can type in your Tip - anything from commenting on dishes to service to decor goes. Make sure to select to share it on Twitter and then tap “Add Tip” to show off your local knowledge. Download the update now!

Curious where your friends are? Find them even faster on this latest version of Loopt! This update lets you launch Loopt directly from your BlackBerry’s contact list. If their location isn’t fresh, send them a ping: Loopt is the easiest way to figure out where your friends are!

Here’s what else is new:

• The Map is now its own tab, making it even easier to see where your friends are!
• Search can now be found in the Discover tab,
• General performance enhancements.

This latest update of Loopt for BlackBerry is available to U.S. users on the BlackBerry Curve 8520, 8530, 8900, BlackBerry Bold 9000, 9700, BlackBerry Tour 9630 and BlackBerry Storm 9530 & 9550. The previous version of Loopt is still available for legacy devices such as the 8330. To see if your device is supported and get Loopt, visit www.loopt.com using your BlackBerry browser.

Download the update to Loopt now »

Get Tips With Your Loopt iPhone Update

The Loopt iPhone update is out.  Go get it.  Now.

Why? Because Loopt now has Tips – a way for you to show off your expertise on your favorite places with the greater Loopt community. 

There’s nobody better to give you advice on the neighborhood than a local, right? Discover the hole-in-the-wall places that are actually the best spots in town with the help of the Loopt community. 

Adding a Tip is really easy, just go to the Discover tab and select the place that you want to leave a Tip for either through the Pulse or Search tabs. In the middle of this place screen is a blue speech bubble icon near “Leave a Public Tip”. Tap it and then you can type in your Tip - anything from commenting on dishes to service to decor goes. Make sure to select to share it on Twitter and then tap “Post” at the top right to show off your local knowledge. 

    

Here’s what else is new:

• Location accuracy and frequency improvements 
• Easier to Ping friends 
• Distance filters for friends 
• Simplified Facebook and Twitter syncing 
• General performance enhancements 

Download the update to Loopt now »

What’s Happening? Use Pulse to Find Out

Looking for something fun to do? Loopt’s Pulse feature (which can be found on the Discover tab) is packed with a lot of useful info on what’s going on around you. 

Browse Pulse to discover hot places and hot events, including those rated highly by your friends and the Loopt community. Pulse offers relevant, premium, local content about places and events from some of the best sources all consolidated onto one screen, including:  

• Microsoft's Bing, powers Loopt’s local social discovery as well as search with details on millions of businesses and aggregated ratings 
• Citysearch, provides neighborhood level content from over 75,000 locations nationwide 
• Zagat, offers top lists on the highest rated restaurants based on the collective experiences of thousands of consumers 
• Eventful, provides locally promoted events created by the Eventful community ranging from concerts to sports 
• NEW! Tasting Table, delivers the best of food and drink culture to adventurous eaters everywhere

Do you have any stories on how Pulse has helped you out? Tell us about it – leave a comment.

Holiday Scavenger Crawl Fun Keeps Going

 

Hope everyone who played the Holiday Scavenger Crawl enjoyed it! It was a fun way for us to show off how the new Loopt helps you connect to people, places, and events in your city.  

We received a bunch of requests to bring the Holiday Scavenger Crawl to other cities across the U.S. Here’s what we’ve decided to do instead to give you a taste of the Holiday Scavenger Crawl – allow you the opportunity to play for a chance at "The BIG Prize": a round-trip ticket to Hawaii* (get it? Hawaii being the ultimate holiday from the holidays...). 

This mission brought to you by the letter...er...Jester from April Fool’s: 

Arguably the only holiday that overtly encourages deceit and emotional hi-jacking (fun, fun!) is April Fool's Day. Suddenly, for one day, it's totally OK to be mean. We don't entirely get it, and to be truthful, we carry the scars of many a mean prank. In this spirit, we bring back the Fool in April Fool's day. Instead of crushing disappointment, this new April Fool's day will be simple, silly, and foolish. It shall be a day of funny-walks and strange voices. For this creative photo mission, stage your very best 'Stupid Human Trick.' Standing on your head ain't gonna cut it here folks. Think harder. Think stupider. 

Take a photo, Check In, and enable Loopt to post your Check In to Twitter and Facebook – be sure to include “@loopt” as well as “#looptgames” and follow Loopt on Twitter. If you don’t have Twitter, leave the link for the Check In in the comments on Loopt’s Facebook Fan page. 

We’ll gather the 10 best and then let the PEOPLE (i.e. - the Loopt community following @loopt on Twitter and fanning Loopt on Facebook) decide. Good luck. 

Thanks again to everyone who came out to the Holiday Scavenger Crawl in San Francisco, New York, and Los Angeles!

p.s. - If you have any photos of the Holiday Scavenger Crawl, feel free to add them to this photo album. 

*Offer is available to all registered Loopt users on eligible phones residing in the United States who have enabled Loopt-Twitter and/or Loopt-Facebook integration. Must be 14 years of age or older to enter. In order to enter, you must update your status on Twitter or Facebook using Loopt and include “@loopt” and "#looptgames" in the status update. Loopt must be able to view your status update; please ensure that your privacy settings on Twitter will allow Loopt to see your Twitter stream or that you post the link to the status update in the comments on Loopt's Facebook Fan page. There is no limit to the amount of times you may make an entry. You consent to Loopt's use and the public display of your entries. Loopt will begin accepting entries at 3:00 PM PST on January 21, 2010 and will stop accepting new entries at 11:59 PM PST on February 5, 2010. Loopt reserves sole discretion to pick the 10 semi-finalists who will compete for the prize. Public voting for the prize winner will commence at a point in time of Loopt’s choosing after the entry period closes and will take place on PollDaddy.com. Each person is allowed one vote during this public voting phase. The participant with the entry that receives the most votes during this voting phase will receive the prize: a round-trip ticket to Hawaii (up to the amount of $1,000). Loopt is not responsible for a lost ticket and will not issue an additional ticket. The round-trip ticket is subject to additional terms and conditions. Please allow 6-8 weeks after the end of the promotion for delivery. Loopt may modify, suspend or terminate this promotion at any time. This promotion and awarding of this prize will be conducted by Loopt, Inc. whose decisions are final on all matters. The airline issuing the ticket or PollDaddy.com are not affiliated with or sponsors of this promotion.

Join the Fame Game on the new Loopt Mix.

Want to be famous? Now there’s an app for that.

Loopt Mix just got a fresh new update today that enables this all new Fame Game. To play, just go out and recruit a fan base among your fellow Loopt Mix users. Those who build the biggest fan base get their names in lights with featured placement as a Mix Celeb. Download it now to play!

It’s time to figure out if you have what it takes to play and become a celebrity on the new Loopt Mix!:

To play the Fame Game on Loopt Mix, you have to lobby other members to add you as a Fan. How do you do that? People become your Fan when they add you to their Favorites so they can more easily contact you in the future. Get the update now!

Thanks to your feedback, we also made some other tweaks. There’s a new Profile tab to control your alerts (push notifications, sounds, and badges) from within the app and easily make other adjustments to your settings / profile. We’ve also made some improvements in typing performance and search. Anything else you’d like to see? Let us know with a comment.

Download the application now »

Where Is Everyone?

Here’s a list of the top 55 most popular U.S. chains based on the last couple of weeks of Check In data. We normalized the number of Check Ins per chain by using In-N-Out Burger as a reference point since it is one of our favorites (and it approximately represents the average). Doing so allows us to gauge the relative popularity of certain places against one another. For example, a 31.79 for Starbucks means that it is 31.79 times more popular than In-N-Out Burger (which is only based in the western U.S.).

 

You’ll notice that the vast majority of these top 55 are restaurants. Starbucks is the most popular with McDonald’s coming in 2nd and Chili’s Grill & Bar ranking 3rd. Out of the 55 places, only 19 of them are not restaurants. The only non-restaurant in the top 10 is 24 Hour Fitness – maybe you guys are trying to get a head start on your New Year’s resolutions?

Loopt Holiday Scavenger Crawl: SF, It's Your Turn to Play

Thanks to all the players who came out to the Loopt Holiday Scavenger Crawl in New York and Los Angeles. We had a great time solving clues and racing from swanky galleries to coffee shops, even if we did face some rather extreme weather conditions. 

Some of you won sweet prizes. Some of you got a free drink or two. Some of you even made some new friends. And all of you had a great time! 

But we saved the best for last. THIS Saturday, January 2nd, it’s San Francisco’s turn to show us what you’ve got. We’ll be meeting at 2:00 PM in front of 111 Minna for the Holiday Scavenger Crawl. Sign up now if you haven’t already. 

See you there? 

 

 

Did Someone Predict a Storm? Loopt Now Playing on the BlackBerry Storm

The wait is finally over – Loopt is now available for FREE on the BlackBerry Storm I & II (9530/9550). You can download it by visiting www.loopt.com on your BlackBerry browser.

If you’re a BlackBerry Storm owner, now you can take advantage of all of the features that Loopt has to offer. You can discover nearby places and events by perusing detailed information from Zagat, Citysearch and the Loopt community. Or you can see where your friends are on maps and view their latest updates listed in real-time. You can also Check In to instantly share updates with friends across your favorite social networks, like Facebook and Twitter. Best of all, Loopt on the BlackBerry Storm runs in the background, which allows you to update your location in real-time while you are on the move, even when the Loopt application is not running in the foreground.

With this latest update, the new Loopt for BlackBerry is available to U.S. users on the BlackBerry Curve 8520, 8530, 8900, BlackBerry Bold 9000, 9700, BlackBerry Tour 9630 and BlackBerry Storm 9530 & 9550. The previous version of Loopt is still available for legacy devices such as the 8330. To see if your device is supported and get Loopt, visit www.loopt.com using your BlackBerry browser.

Click here for a walk-through of all the features in the new Loopt for BlackBerry.

Get the new Loopt for the BlackBerry Storm »